THE PAMANTASAN ng Lungsod ng Maynila on Monday lauded its alumna for saving newborn babies from a fire that hit a portion of the Philippine General Hospital last week.

PLM President Emmanuel Leyco and Board of Regents chairman Francisco Roman led the university in honoring Kathrina Bianca Macababbad.

“We thank Nurse Kathrina for her untiring care and service for her patients, which has saved the lives of babies staying at the NICU ward. Buong karangalan naming inaangkin ang iyong kabayanihan,” Leyco said.

“She is the true embodiment of PLM’s principles of Karunungan, Kaunlaran and Kadakilaan. May her dedication and passion for her work inspire many other health frontliners as well as aspiring medical practitioners pursuing the profession,” he added.

According to Macababbad, she and her fellow nurse on duty Jomar Mallari evacuated 35 babies in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.

The nurse said she also had to carry emergency medicines and breathing equipment especially for patients relying on ventilators.

Macababbad stressed that she did what she could to save the babies and saw it as an opportunity to go “an extra mile in serving the public.”

“Lahat po ng pina-practice ko sa profession ay galing sa PLM at sa pagtuturo ng ating magagaling na mga propesor. I will not be this kind of nurse, I will not be this kind of person without PLM,” she said.

Macababbad passed the Nursing Licensure Examination in December 2013. She has been with PGH since 2017.